Neighbors' Fears Realized in a Fatal Fire

By IAN URBINA

Published: May 6, 2004

When a 95-year-old woman died in a fire in her apartment on the East Side yesterday morning, the police said that she had most likely dropped her cigarette while sleeping. But some neighbors were not surprised -- they had long noticed that the elderly woman on the 10th floor was too frail to be left alone safely but too stubborn to accept more supervision.

Tenants in the co-op building noticed cigarette burns on her dress. They held their noses when she repeatedly left food burning in the kitchen. They held meetings to discuss the problem, which seemed to get worse as the years fell away. And in the end, their fears were realized in a swirl of smoke and flames.

It was a predicament no doubt familiar to many people who live in Manhattan high rises: an elderly tenant who is fully within her legal rights, who seems at times to be in control of all her faculties, but who seems to pose a risk to those who live above, below and next to her.

The fire was confined to the woman's apartment at 25 Sutton Place South and brought under control shortly after 7 a.m., Fire Chief George L. Maier said. After clearing the apartment of smoke, firefighters found the woman, Annette C. Barlow, on her bedroom floor.

Longtime residents of the building said they had rarely spoken with Ms. Barlow. ''She was very reclusive and fiercely independent,'' said Barbara Berkall, 72, a retired corporate meeting planner who has lived on the 10th floor for nearly 20 years. Ms. Barlow had a nurse who worked from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., but only on weekdays. If she had family, they were never seen visiting, neighbors said.

In recent years, building superintendents had repeatedly visited Ms. Barlow's apartment after her smoke alarm sounded from burning food. ''There were emergencies and then we also used to make up excuses to go in there and check up on her,'' said a superintendent who would not give his name. ''Her forgetfulness seemed to get especially bad when she got in the kitchen.''

But her two-pack-a-day cigarette smoking was the bigger worry. ''She wouldn't remember where she would put down her cigarette,'' he said. ''So she would just light up another.''

Silvana Hack shared the concern. Ms. Hack, a retired legal secretary, said that she had lived next door to Ms. Barlow for three years and that her bedroom shared a wall with Ms. Barlow's. Ms. Hack said she used to fret about her own safety as smoke wafted through the air-conditioning vents.

''I had these visions that she was lying there with a cigarette in her hand,'' she said. Then two weeks ago, Ms. Hack saw Ms. Barlow walking the hallway wearing a red and white short-sleeve dress that had several cigarette burns on the front. ''I thought, oh, God, we all may be in trouble,'' she said.

Ms. Barlow was not the only resident of the building who was causing concern. ''There is a real split in ages in the building, and there are quite a few older tenants who could probably use more help,'' said Linda Trigoboff, a tenant from the 15th floor who would not give her age but did say that she was among the younger people in the building. ''You notice things, but sometimes you don't want to say anything.''

Ms. Barlow's lack of supervision was discussed several times at building board meetings, neighbors said. Several people had tried to suggest to Ms. Barlow that she hire a live-in nurse, but she refused, said Patricia Fuchs, a 20th-floor tenant. ''The building was in a real bind.''

Ms. Berkall, the 10th-floor neighbor, said that everyone had noticed that Ms. Barlow's exercise walks in the hallways had become shorter and that her sight had become weaker. But her mental capacity seemed intact, she said. ''What are you going to do?'' she said. ''If a person still has their wits about them, you can't really force someone to get more help.''

Photo: A 95-year-old woman died yesterday in a fire on Sutton Place South. The police said she had probably fallen asleep and dropped a cigarette. (Photo by John Marshall Mantel for The New York Times)